Despite the plethora of studies reported during the last decade in relation to educational innovation in teaching and assessment of competencies, a consensus is seemingly lacking on a definition that establishes the scope and boundaries competency assessment. This research gap motivated a systematic review of the literature published on the topics of “educational innovation in teaching” and “assessment of competencies” in upper secondary and higher education during the period from January 2016 to March 2021. The main objective of the study was to define and evaluate educational innovation in teaching and assessment of competencies in upper secondary and higher education following PRISMA guidelines for a systematic literature review (SLR) on a curated corpus of 320 articles. We intended to answer the following questions: (1) What do “educational innovation in teaching” and “assessment of competencies” represent for upper secondary and higher education? (2) How are they evaluated? Lastly, (3) are efforts exerted toward the standardization of transversal competencies? The SLR seeks answers to these questions by examining nine research sub-queries. The result indicated that the greatest effort toward educational innovation in competencies was made at the higher education level and targeted students. Competencies were revised through associations with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. In addition, the methodologies used for teaching and evaluation of competencies were reviewed. Finally, the study discussed which technologies were used to develop the proficiencies of students.

The architecture and design of the propulsion system of electric vehicles are highly important for the reduction of energy losses. This work presents a powertrain composed of four electric motors in which each motor is connected with a different gear ratio to the differential of the rear axle. A strategy to reduce energy losses is proposed, in which two phases are applied. Phase 1 uses a divide-and-conquer approach to increase the overall output efficiency by obtaining the optimal torque distribution for the electric motors. Phase 2 applies a genetic algorithm to find the optimal value of the gear ratios, in which each individual of each generation applies Phase 1. The results show an optimized efficiency map for the output torque and speed of the powertrain. The increase in efficiency and the reduction of energy losses are validated by the use of numerical experiments in various driving cycles.

Electric Vehicles with more than one electric motor can offer advantages in saving energy from the batteries. In order to do that, the control strategy plays an important role in distributing the required torque between the electric motors. A dual motor propulsion system with a differential transmission is simulated in this work. A rule based control strategy for this propulsion system is proposed and analyzed. Two parameters related to the output speed of the transmission and the required torque are used to switch the two modes of operation in which the propulsion system can work under acceleration. The effect of these parameters is presented over the driving cycles of NEDC, UDDS, and NYCC, which are followed using a PID controller. The produced energy losses are calculated as well as an indicator of drivability, which is related to the difference between the desired speed and the actual speed obtained. The results show that less energy losses are present when the vehicle is maintained with one electric motor most of the time, switching only when the extended speed granted by the second motor is required. The propulsion system with the proposed control strategy represents a feasible alternative in the spectrum of sustainable transportation architectures with extending range capabilities.